Alaska Senate Ponders Fate Of Governor

August 5, 1985|By Chicago Tribune

JUNEAU, ALASKA — Gov. Bill Sheffield, accused of steering a $9.1 million state lease to a political crony and then lying about it to a grand jury, has won one victory, but he still must survive a vote by the full Senate today during impeachment hearings.

A state Senate committee decided Saturday that Sheffield, 57, well may have committed ''an impeachable offense,'' but it ruled that there is not enough evidence to vote to recommend impeaching the first-term Democrat.

The Republican-controlled Senate Rules Committee voted, 3 to 2, to send a resolution to the full 20-member Senate condemning the governor and stating that ''the Senate seriously questions the accuracy'' of his testimony under oath.

The Rules Committee, in a unanimous report, criticized the governor and state employees for having ''abused the public trust and brought discredit upon themselves and this administration.''

Sheffield's spokesman, Bob Miller, called the report ''a highly partisan document'' by a panel ''trying to save face'' by criticizing the governor despite a lack of votes in the Senate.

''It is the opinion of a majority of the Rules Committee that the evidence that an impeachable offense occurred, though substantial, does not rise to the level of 'clear and convincing evidence,' '' the committee concluded.

The committee statement reflected an informal consensus that a required two-thirds majority, or 14 senators, does not favor impeachment.